Features

Innovation, sustainability and new applications for technology will be at the heart of Oceanology International 2024 (Oi24), with anticipation building for the opening of the next Oi event at London’s ExCeL from March 12–14, 2024.

For centuries, our oceans and seas have helped power the global economy. Central to this has been innovation and a pioneering spirit. From clippers shipping goods around the globe, to divers and submariners exploring deep below the waves and communicators installing inter-continental submarine cables, each evoked fresh thinking to achieve ambitions.

The US offshore wind industry is at a critical juncture. In the past year it has seen new opportunities and made remarkable progress, but also faces serious challenges. It needs new business partners in a variety of sectors including port infrastructure, shipbuilding, and maritime operations.

Beneath our oceans' surfaces lies a complex tapestry of marine habitats which are increasingly impacted by human exploitation and climate change. Many countries have ambitious targets for the management of marine protected environments (MPAs), but effectiveness has been limited by conventional monitoring methods.

The market for uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs) is booming. A recent report published by Allied Market Research suggests that the global market for USVs in 2022 generated $0.92 billion and is anticipated to generate $2.7 billion by 2032—that is a staggering CAGR of 11.5% over the next decade.

For years, some version of H. James Harrington’s process-improvement maxim, “If you can’t measure something you can’t understand it,” has floated around corporate boardrooms. That is equally true in ocean science labs and research ships around the world. But if we are going to stave off the worst that the climate crisis has in store for us and not hand a dangerously overheated world over to our children, that must change.